Author: God's Morning

Some people think that Joey is still in Italy because he is still putting up posts about his trip.   However, he is back.  See him here at the dock showing off the new improved Italian hand gesture skills he acquired on his trip.  His hands are just a blur.  Can anyone tell what he is saying?

E.J. Lefavour

Caught Cameron Johnson of Rockport windsurfing before work Thursday morning, and he was screaming across the outer harbor.  He was moving so fast, I was certain he would crash and ruin his board running up over Niles Beach, but he had amazing control and could turn that thing on a dime and head back out across the outer harbor like a flash.   That had to be an invigorating way to start the day.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

Photo by Greg Bover

I think this is a tricky one, but Cape Ann people never cease to amaze with their great powers of observation.

The Gloucester Fleet, circa 1930 Alice M. Curtis/©Fredrik D. Bodin

This classic harbor scene is one of the most popular photographs in the gallery. It’s not just the interesting content, but also the artful composition, with reflections in the water that I’ve seen in Emile Gruppe’s renowned oil paintings of that time. The fishing and seine boats packed together in Harbor Cove recall the days when fishing was the big business. Mackerel seiner Angie & Vence is on the left, and the Jupiter is third from the left. The white seine boats are filled with seining nets with cork floats. The Gloucester Coal and Lumber building sits in the background, topped by its 35-ton steam derrick (crane). Coal was loaded onto barges, and lumber was carried away by lumber schooners. The company was founded in 1903 by tugboat captain Charles “Cap” Heberle, and is now called The Building Center. The Heberle family still owns it and often visits the gallery.

Image printed archivally from the original 4×5 inch film negative in my darkroom. Image #A8345-012

Fred

Fredrik D. Bodin

Bodin Historic Photo

82 Main Street

Gloucester, MA 01930

info@BodinHistoricPhoto.com

Like us on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/BodinHistoricPhoto

978-283-2524

we will have our first Mug Up of the seaon this Sunday, May 20th at 9:00 am at Khan Studio & the Good Morning Gloucester Gallery, 77 Rocky Neck Ave., G3.  FOB, Barry Marshall will also be heading back to CA and would have missed the Memorial Day weekend events, so we wanted him to be able to experience a Mug Up first hand.

Come on by, check out the new gallery look with the tropical turquoise floor, Judith Monteferrante and Roger Salisbury’s Spirit of the West exhibit, the new GMG Gallery wall, Carol McKenna’s work, my new glass paintings, and of course good coffee, deviled eggs and whatever other mug up type fare people bring along to share.  Always great people and food, and always a good time.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

Dylan Thomas once wrote, “Time passes. Listen. Time passes.”  

While this is true, it doesn’t have to be true for the thousands upon thousands of pixels that make up your most treasured memories. 

Whether they are five years old, or fifty years old; printed photographs are quite vulnerable to the elements. Not unlike other relics of a bygone non-digital era, photographs require just as much maintenance as your beloved vintage vinyl! 

When caring for your photos, I can offer you two powerful words of advice; preventative maintenance. Here are some useful tips to help you get started.

1. Paper and Plastic: While photo albums are a great way to preserve your memories, always remember to check the paper quality of the album before placing the photographs inside it. Acidity levels in the paper can destroy your photos over time; erasing the color and detail. When shopping for an album, look for “acid-free” or “archival-safe” labels on the album , stay away from “magnetic pages” and avoid using corrosive adhesives. Keep the same idea in mind when considering the plastic sleeves, common in most photo albums. While plastic sleeves are a great way to keep your photos “fresh”, if you’re not using “lignin free” plastic, your photos will erode over time, become stuck to the plastic more easily and may even develop a yellow or orange hue. If you choose to store your photos in a photo box, the same rules apply… make sure the box is acid-free!

2. Air Supply and Climate Control: Dry air is optimal for photo preservation. Too much humidity will damage untreated, non framed photos and cause mildew. The damage caused by mildew or mold is usually permanent because it grows by “digesting” the cellulose in the paper backing of the photo. At the very least, it will cause permanent staining. I know this sounds weird, but treat your photos as you would treat yourself. Do not store them in a cold, damp basement or a stuffy, hot attic (remember that heat rises and a high temperature accelerates deterioration). Store your photos in an environment that feels comfortable to your own skin. Extreme climate fluctuations are a photo’s worst enemy. 

3. The Flat Truth: Keep your photos flat. Do not roll them or fold them. Some people have a tendency of rolling up an awkwardly shaped or too-long photograph and then using a rubber-band to secure it. I cannot stress this enough… DO NOT ROLL YOUR PHOTOS. They will become exceedingly brittle over time, making the restorative process of “humidification” very difficult. Rubber-bands contain sulphur, which will degrade photographic emulsion.

4. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark: Light can and will hurt your pictures! If you must hang your framed originals, try to hang them in subdued light and use an anti-UV frame, avoiding direct sunlight at all costs. If possible though, it is advisable to display copies and keep your originals in the dark. 

5. Hands Off: Do not handle your photos with bare hands. Always wear gloves, preferably of the cotton variety. Oils from your fingers, even after being meticulously washed, will replenish themselves and stick to the photographs. The acids in the oils will, over time, damage your pictures. (FYI… It is possible to permanently brand a fingerprint into a photograph, simply from handling it) I’d like to point out that you should also avoid using adhesives or fasteners such as rubber cement, pressure-sensitive tape or paper clips. Paper clips, especially, will scratch your photos very easily.

Are you cringing yet… thinking about all those old photos you inherited from your great grandmother and stuffed in an old shoebox from the 1970s, which now sits, collecting dust and who knows what else, up in the attic, wedged between a box of broken Christmas lights and a rusty trunk… containing even more photographs, just sort of rolled up, secured with rubber-bands or stacked in a chaotic heap of disorderly haste?! Fear not. 

While there are a number of DIY tricks for photographic restoration, (which I just may be so inclined to do another blog post about in the future), there are also professionals, like myself, out there who can help you bring your damaged photographs “back to life” with digital restoration. 

And who am I, exactly? My name is Vignette-Noelle Lammott and I am a recent transplant to the glorious community of Cape Ann, via Chicago. My business, which I launched this past October, is called Retrocognitive Restorations. Though I have been restoring photographs professionally for only a few years,  I have studied tarnished beauty, all of my life. An antique shop enthusiast, I surround myself with old things, and can often be found rummaging through dusty used bookstores or scouting around local flea markets and estate sales. I like to think of what I do as more than just retouching your old snaps, but rather, restoring your most treasured memories.

Email me to set up a free consultation. I offer several packages, depending on how many photographs you need done and whether they are true vintage or relatively recent. You can view some samples of these packages at my website http://retrocognitiverestorations.webs.com. And don’t forget to look me up on Facebook, for even more free advice on photocare as well as some stunning “before and afters”.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Retrocognitive-Restorations/153407968084023

Vignette-Noelle Lammott
Owner at Retrocognitive Restorations
773.396.0557
http://www.retrocognitiverestorations.webs.com

This Wednesday, May 16, there will be LIVE music at Jalapeno’s Restaurant by the band ColdStream, a four piece acoustic band made up of 2 guitarists, a bass player and a mandolin player. They specialize in three and four part harmonies. Their music ranges from soft rock to pop, Irish, country, English folk and classic rock. They are a staple in the southern New Hampshire bar/restaurant circuit playing to warm receptions everywhere.
 
Come enjoy some background entertainment while sampling delicious, authentic Mexican cuisine! ColdStream will be playing from 6:30 to 9:00pm to support the Breast Cancer 3 Day benefit night at Jalapenos.
 
Thank you!
 
Liz Dooley 

“A horse is the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves – strong, powerful, beautiful – and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence.”  ~Pam Brown

. . . the same can be said about a visit to Rocky Neck, so let the games begin.

Khan Studio and the Good Morning Gloucester Gallery at 77 Rocky Neck, G3 on Madfish Wharf will be reopening for the season on May 15^th, and will be open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 9:00pm and Sunday from 9:00am-9:00pm.

The first guest artist show of the 2012 season, titled Spirit of the West featuring photography and paintings by Judith Monteferrante and Roger Salisbury, will run May 15^th-June 7, with an opening reception on Saturday, May 26^th from 7:00-9:00pm   This evening will also be the grand reopening celebration for Khan Studio, as well as the opening reception for the Best of Rocky Neck Members Show at the Rocky Neck Gallery, 53 Rocky Neck from 5:30-8:00pm. 

 On Sunday, May 27^th, the weekly Mug Up tradition will resume.  Every Sunday morning from 9:00-11:00, Khan Studio and the Good Morning Gloucester Gallery hosts a fun and always well attended Mug Up coffee hour.  The gallery provides coffee and deviled eggs.  Everyone is welcome and invited to bring along some Mug Up fare to share.  Wear a cowboy hat and bring along your horse if you have one, and come enjoy meeting new and old friends, and your favorite Good Morning Gloucester contributors and FOB’s.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

             Ten individuals have been chosen to receive the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church’s “Gloucester Citizenship Awards” for 2012, for the contributions they make to their community and their neighbors through volunteer efforts, carried out quietly and persistently, without thought of remuneration or recognition.

            The seven women and three men were selected by the church’s Social Justice Committee from more than 40 nominations submitted by members of the congregation and the public.

            The awards will be presented at a public ceremony at the church on Sunday, May 20, starting at 7:00 p.m. 

            The Gloucester Citizenship Awards were begun in 2006 as part of the celebration of the bicentennial of the iconic Universalist Meetinghouse, the oldest standing church in Gloucester and home of the first Universalist church in America.  The congregation is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

            The awards have been continued as a way this congregation can recognize contributions to the community that actions embody the best of the spirit that guides Unitarian Universalism: open-hearted giving to others, solely for what those gifts mean, for no pay, and often with no public notice.

            This year’s ceremony is being made possible in part through sponsorship by the Cape Ann Savings Bank, the First National Bank of Ipswich, and the Rockport National Bank.  We thank them for their generous support.

            The public is invited to attend. Along with the recipients and their families and friends, scores of friends of the church also are also being invited to help celebrate the good works that these people do.  Dress is informal.

            The women and men who will be honored this year are:

Patti Amaral – A founder of the Clean City Initiative, constant and relentless coordination of  citywide cleanup days, and longtime leader of the Gloucester Clean City Commission  and instigator of that commission’s Carry In/Carry Out policy at city beaches.

Marie Blanding – For her management in the 1980s of an urgent effort to preserve the tower of the Universalist Meeting House, saving one of the city’s most important historic buildings for the enjoyment of others for generations to come, and for many other community contributions.

Barbara Kaplan – A constant force for justice on Cape Ann through the Essex County Community Organization, an essential supporter in the founding of the “Chill Zone” program serving at-risk youth in Gloucester, and an unflagging advocate on behalf of affordable housing in our community.

Lucille LePage – A true friend to many in ways almost too numerous to express, including visits to those who may be lonely or need a lift, a willingness to do errands for those who cannot do so for themselves, and always, a supportive voice ready to offer a thoughtful observation that can improve their lives.

John John Nicastro – For the formation and management of the JJ Nicastro Foundation, which provides support to college-bound students, young athletes, and promising actresses and actors; for financial help that enables young men and women to take part in school sports, and numerous other contributions to the community.

Micaela O’Connor – For exemplary service to fellow students at Gloucester High School through her active peer support for fellow students in the classroom, and for her leadership in Students Against Destructive Decisions, the GHS Gay/Straight Alliance, and other organizations,

Margaret “Peg” O’Malley – As founder and leader of Partners for Addison Gilbert Hospital, an unflinching force for preserving essential health care services for Cape Ann residents. For 16 years, as the health care landscape has undergone wrenching changes, Peg and Partners have “kept the heat on” to ensure that Gloucester’s hospital would not forget its purpose and its roots.

John Prybot – For selfless dedication to helping others – through his work with various health programs, in Pride Stride, and at Action, Inc.; for ensuring that papers of the poet Charles Olson would be preserved for use of all; from his position at the Sawyer Free Library, the extraordinary help he offers Spanish-speakers in Gloucester – and much, much more.

Bob Quinn – With persistent dedication, Bob for more than a decade has been taping events in Gloucester for broadcast on Cape Ann Cable Television. the Gloucester Lyceum and the Gloucester Museum to public board meetings, his service is invaluable to those unable to attend in person and provides an important archive for the future.

Maud Warren – Through her leadership in the Cape Ann Interfaith Commission, Maud has worked to alleviate homelessness, hunger and isolation – including through the founding of Harvest Meals and, separately, a program that delivers sandwiches daily to others in need.

This is a reminder that our Cape Ann Painter and Photographer group will meet at the Annie on Monday, May 14. Coffee (BYO until we think of a better system) will be from 9-9:30 . The meeting will start at 9:30 and end at 11. Please bring any new work you have to share!

Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Alice Gardner